Part II Principles of Quantum Mechanics Michaelmas 2014 Prof. R.R. Horgan November 28, 2014 Contents 1 Introduction 1 2 Dirac Formalism 2 2.1 States and Operators . .2 2.2 Observables and measurements . .4 2.3 Time evolution and the Schr¨odingerEquation . .7 2.4 Bases and Representations . .9 2.5 Position and momentum basis { wavefunctions . 11 2.6 Simultaneous Measurements and Complete Commuting Sets . 15 3 The Harmonic Oscillator 17 3.1 Analysis using annihilation, creation and number operators . 17 3.2 Importance of the oscillator { applications in outline . 20 4 Pictures and Operators 22 4.1 Unitary operators . 22 4.2 Schr¨odingerand Heisenberg Pictures . 23 4.3 Canonical Quantization . 26 5 Composite Systems and Identical Particles 27 5.1 Tensor products . 27 5.2 Spin . 29 5.3 Multiparticle states: bosons and fermions . 30 5.4 Spin and statistics . 32 5.5 Two-particle examples . 32 5.6 Pauli Exclusion Principle and Atomic Structure . 34 6 Perturbation Theory 36 6.1 The non-degenerate case . 36 i CONTENTS ii 6.2 Degenerate case . 40 7 Angular Momentum 43 7.1 Recap of orbital angular momentum . 43 7.2 General analysis of angular momentum eigenstates . 45 7.3 Matrix representations . 48 7.4 Some physical aspects of angular momentum and spin . 50 7.5 Addition of angular momentum . 52 8 Transformations and Symmetries 57 8.1 Introduction and an Example . 57 8.2 Generators and conservation laws . 59 8.3 Angular Momentum and Rotations . 61 8.4 Reflections and Parity . 64 9 Time-dependent Perturbation Theory 67 9.1 The interaction picture . 67 9.2 Transition rates and Fermi's Golden Rule . 69 9.3 Interaction of radiation/EM field with atoms . 71 9.4 Emission and absorption of photons . 75 10 Quantum Basics 77 10.1 Classical and Quantum Data . 77 10.2 EPR experiment and Bell's inequality . 79 10.3 Density operators and hidden sectors . 82 CONTENTS iii BOOKS ‚ E. Merzbacher Quantum Mechanics, 3rd edition. Wiley 1998 (various prices) ‚ B.H. Bransden and C.J. Joachain Quantum Mechanics, 2nd edition. Pearson 2000 ($50-60 on Amazon) ‚ J. Binney and D. Skinner The Physics of Quantum Mechanics, 3rd edition. Cappella Archive 2013 ($23.71) ‚ P.A.M. Dirac The Principles of Quantum Mechanics. Oxford University Press 1967 reprinted 1999 ($23.99). ‚ C.J. Isham Lectures on Quantum Theory: Mathematical and Structural Foundations. Imperial College Press 1995 (around $18) ‚ S. Gasiorowicz Quantum Physics, 3rd edition. Wiley International 2003 $48.71 Mot of these books are expensive new and there are a lot of pedagogic books on quantum mechanics, so it's good to look at those in the library since many books are good in one area but poor in another. Other books may be recommeneded through the course. 1 INTRODUCTION 1 1 Introduction ‹ Recall features of elementary (IB) quantum mechanics: ‹ wave-particle duality. Waves behaving like particles { e.g., light quanta, pho- tons and vice-versa; interference of electrons passing through crystal grating and electron microscope. To make this more precise need: ‹ wavefunction pxq for particle. Probability density | pxq|2; probability is in- trinsic to the theory. ‹ 0bservables become (hermitian) operators on wavefunctions. Lack of commutation limits simultaneous measurement { leads to precise version of un- certainty principle. ‹ Schr¨odinger'sequation specifies dynamics (evolution in time) and determines energy levels. This is enough to understand e.g., the hydrogen atom and transcends classical physics. ‹ Aim of this course: ‹ reformulate QM in a more powerful, abstract, flexible and useful form: Dirac formalism. This allows a simpler analysis of known problems such as the har- monic oscillator and is also the clearest way to understand lots of more novel properties, for example: ‹ the spin of particles; ‹ symmetries (e.g., translations and rotations) and conservation laws; ‹ identical particles; ‹ it provides the framework for quantizing other, more general, systems e.g., EM field, and ultimately other forces leading to the `Standard Model' of elementary particles. ‹ Will not dwell on applications in any detail, but will keep track of what the mathe- matical formalism is for. ‹ Assume IB QM and IA Dynamics but no electromagnetism beyond Coulomb's law and intuitive ideas about magnetism. Plan: 1. Dirac formalism. 2. Harmonic oscillator. 3. Pictures of quantization. 4. Composite systems and identical particles. 5. Perturbation theory. 6. Angular momentum. 7. Transformations and symmetries. 8. Time-dependent perturbation theory. 9. Quantum basics. 2 DIRAC FORMALISM 2 2 Dirac Formalism 2.1 States and Operators A quantum state is described at each instant by a state | y which belongs to a complex vector space V . Then | y; |φy P V ùñ α| y ` β|φy P V @ α; β P C: (2.1.1) Physically this is the superposition principle leading to wave-like behaviour (interfer- ence). However, these states are not wavefunctions but we will see that they carry all the quantum information that describes the state of the system concerned in a very general way. There are also dual or conjugate states xφ| which belong to the dual space V :. By definition, states and duals can be combined/paired to give a complex number: xφ| ; | y ÞÑ xφ| y or formally V : ˆ V Ñ C ; (2.1.2) `bra' `ket' `bra(c)ket' loomoon loomoon loomoon with xφ| α1| 1y ` α2| 2y “ α1xφ| 1y ` α2xφ| 2y ; ´ ¯ β1xφ1| ` β2xφ2| | y “ β1xφ1| y ` β2xφ2| y ; (2.1.3) ´ ¯ α; β P C. This is the definition of the dual as a vector space. The space of states V and the dual V : come with an inner-product which can be described as a one-to-one correspondence between states and duals: V ÐÑ V : with | y ÐÑ x | “ p | yq: (use same label for corresponding states) and α| y ` β|φy ÐÑ α˚x | ` β˚xφ| : (2.1.4) The inner product is V ˆ V Ñ C |φy; | y ÞÑ xφ| y “ p|φyq:| y ; (2.1.5) and is assumed to obey xφ| y “ x |φy˚ hermitian k| yk2 “ x | y ¥ 0 (real from above) (2.1.6) with k| yk2 “ 0 iffi | y “ 0: This means that the inner product is positive semidefinite. Note that knowing xφ| y for all xφ| determines | y uniquely and vice-versa. The physical content of any state is unaltered by changing | y Ñ α| y pα ‰ 0q. We shall usually normalize states by k| yk2 “ 1 but still have the freedom to change | y Ñ eiθ| y. The absolute phase of a single state never has any physical significance, 2 DIRAC FORMALISM 3 but relative phases in combination such as α|φy ` β| y can be significant; for example, for interference phenomena. The space V is complete; we assume appropriate sequences or series converge. A complete inner product space of this kind is a Hilbert space and this term is often used for the space V in QM. V can be either finite or infinite dimensional and we shall see examples of both. An operator Q is a linear map on states, V Ñ V : | y ÞÑ Q| y; (2.1.7) and, by definition Q α|φy ` β| y “ αQ|φy ` βQ| y : (2.1.8) The same operator can be´ regarded as acting¯ `to the left' on dual states, V : Ñ V :: xφ| ÞÑ xφ|Q; (2.1.9) xφ|Q | y “ xφ| Q| y @ | y (2.1.10) or simply ´ ¯ “ xφ|´Q| y :¯ For any Q the hermitian conjugate or adjoint is an operator Q: defined by : xφ|Q: “ Q|φy ; (2.1.11) ´ ¯ or, equivalently, : xφ|Q:| y “ Q|φy | y “ x´ |Q|φ¯y˚ @ | y; |φy : (2.1.12) Simple consequences are : αA ` βB “ α˚A: ` β˚B: ; ´ ¯: AB “ B:A: ; (2.1.13) ` ¯ for any A; B.1 1 : x |pABq:|φy “ pABq| y |φy defn of pABq: ´ : ¯ “ A| 1y |φy | 1y ” B| y “ x´ 1|A:|¯φy defn of A: : “ B| y A:|φy “ x´ |B:A¯:|´φy ¯ defn of B: : (2.1.14) True for all | y; |φy and result follows. 2 DIRAC FORMALISM 4 For any operator Q call | y p‰ 0q an eigenstate of Q with eigenvalue λ if Q| y “ λ| y : (2.1.15) Equivalently (taking : of this) x |Q: “ λ˚x | : (2.1.16) For general Q, λ can be complex. Of particular importance are commutators of operators rA; Bs “ AB ´ BA “ ´ rB; As : (2.1.17) We have the identities rα A ` α A ;Bs “ α rA ;Bs ` α rA ;Bs 1 1 2 2 1 1 2 2 linearity (2.1.18) rA; β1B1 ` β2B2s “ β1rA; B1s ` β2rA; B2s rA; B B s “ rA; B sB ` B rA; B s 1 2 1 2 1 2 Leibnitz properties (2.1.19) rA1A2;Bs “ rA1;BsA2 ` A1rA2;Bs rA; rB; Css ` rB; rC; Ass ` rC; rA; Bss “ 0 Jacobi identity (2.1.20) 2.2 Observables and measurements An operator Q is hermitian or self-adjoint if Q: “ Q: (2.2.1) Such operators are called observables because they correspond to physical, measur- able, quantities e.g., position, momentum, energy, angular momentum. Key results for any hermitian Q: (i) All eigenvalues are real. (ii) Eigenstates with distinct eigenvalues are orthogonal. (iii) The eigenstates form a basis for V (and their duals for V :). So any state can be expanded in terms of (written as a linear combination of) the eigenstates. We prove (i) and (ii) and assume (iii). (i) Q| y “ λ| y and x |Q: “ λ˚x | (2.2.2) ñ x |Q “ λ˚x | since Q is hermitian ñ x |Q| y “ λx | y “ λ˚x | y : But k| yk2 “ x | y ‰ 0 p| y ‰ 0q and so deduce λ “ λ˚ : (2.2.3) 2 DIRAC FORMALISM 5 (ii) Let |ny be eigenstates of Q with eigenvalues λ “ qn real, with n a discrete label possibly of infinite range.